Baytril Gave My Mice Diarrhea?

by Plazmotech Sun 22 Jan 2017, 1:44 pm

What do I do? One of my mice already doesn't trust me (just got her a little over a week ago and haven't tamed her yet). I took both of my mice to the vet, and he prescribed Baytril. I've been giving them .05cc's per day. But now I noticed the one that already doesn't like me is getting diarrhea from it! What do I do?? The vet is closed today so I can't call.

by AnonONIagent Sun 22 Jan 2017, 1:48 pm

She might not be getting it from the medicine itself but rather the stress from you administering it. What method are you using to medicate them?

Really, the best thing to do for diarrhea is to make sure she's getting enough water. Prolonged diarrhea can dehydrate mice and that will kill them. Some websites I've seen have also mentioned some herbal remedies but I can't vouch for their safety or effectiveness.

by Plazmotech Sun 22 Jan 2017, 1:59 pm

If it could be stress it's definitely that. It's been very difficult to medicate them. The only way I can seem to control them enough to put the syringe in their mouth is just hold them very tightly and they freak out.

by AnonONIagent Sun 22 Jan 2017, 2:06 pm

Plazmotech wrote:If it could be stress it's definitely that. It's been very difficult to medicate them. The only way I can seem to control them enough to put the syringe in their mouth is just hold them very tightly and they freak out.

As I said in my post in your other thread, you should not be squeezing them. When my Sarah had a URI, the method I used to medicate her was to scruff her by the neck and make her grab onto my shirt so she wouldn't wriggle around as much, wait a few seconds for her to calm down a bit, then medicate her. You can also try wrapping them in a towel, but judging by how small and squirmy you say they are, this may be difficult.

by Plazmotech Sun 22 Jan 2017, 2:42 pm

If tried grabbing them by the scruff but I can't seem to do it. Is there any trick to it? I just can't seem to get them to stay in that position long enough to grab enough skin.

by AnonONIagent Sun 22 Jan 2017, 3:00 pm

Plazmotech wrote:If tried grabbing them by the scruff but I can't seem to do it. Is there any trick to it? I just can't seem to get them to stay in that position long enough to grab enough skin.

Here's the technique I use. Just be careful picking them up by the tail; we don't normally recommend you do such a thing, but for this, you kinda have to. As painful as this looks, it won't hurt them. Just be sure not to grab so much skin that you constrict their airway and accidentally choke them.

by peas Sun 22 Jan 2017, 4:39 pm

I don't understand why everyone insists on torturing their mice like this. It's very stressful and it's dangerous. Many people are first time mouse owners and aren't comfortable pinning their mice down or picking them up by their necks.

You can easily just add antibiotic medicine to food, especially if it's flavoured.

You basically can't give them too much. Putting .03 on a couple cheerios to account for spillage is not going to be a harm at all. It's far riskier to physically restrain squirming scared little mice and shoving syringes in their mouth.

If you can feed them medicine the proper way, then by all means do so. But if it's a giant fight that is stressing them out, there is no need with antibiotics.

Most vets prescribe baytril at .02 twice a day. Is there some reason your vet went .05? Follow your vets instructions but you might ask him his thinking if he hasn't explained it already.

by Plazmotech Sun 22 Jan 2017, 6:50 pm

peas wrote:
I don't understand why everyone insists on torturing their mice like this. It's very stressful and it's dangerous. Many people are first time mouse owners and aren't comfortable pinning their mice down or picking them up by their necks.

You can easily just add antibiotic medicine to food, especially if it's flavoured.

You basically can't give them too much. Putting .03 on a couple cheerios to account for spillage is not going to be a harm at all. It's far riskier to physically restrain squirming scared little mice and shoving syringes in their mouth.

If you can feed them medicine the proper way, then by all means do so. But if it's a giant fight that is stressing them out, there is no need with antibiotics.

Most vets prescribe baytril at .02 twice a day. Is there some reason your vet went .05? Follow your vets instructions but you might ask him his thinking if he hasn't explained it already.

Looks like according to the bottle my Baytril is diluted 1:4. They aren't THAT sick, so that would be .0125cc's twice daily. I tried putting the 0.05cc on a piece of popcorn but they just ate around it, and didn't eat the soggy piece.

by peas Mon 23 Jan 2017, 8:27 am

Do they like popcorn?

You might be better off breaking a cheerio in half, and putting a tiny bit on each half of the cheerio.

The idea is that there shouldn't be a soggy bit but even spaced out distribution of the medicine. Usually i would leave each mouse in a nearly empty playbin alone with his cheerio or cracker, for 20 minutes.

Once they are bored, they'll generally eat it. And once they get used to the taste, they eat it pretty quickly.

My last mouse, preferred baytril. He went from hating it to loving it, the little weirdo.

It can also help if you trick them into eating it. If you break the cheerios in half, they smell the cheerio and want it, then you make them have to reach up and try and grab it out of your hand.
This activates their prey drive or hoarding drive or whatever, like dogs that don't want their bone until someone else wants it.

This can work if they look like they aren't wanting to eat.

by CinnamonPearl Mon 23 Jan 2017, 9:35 am

Do NOT put the antibiotics on food. You will have no idea how much they are getting, and if they aren't getting enough, they will remain sick. URIs can turn into pneumonia, and pneumonia kills. Putting antibiotics on food is irresponsible and is only eluding the problem of learning how to force medicate animals. You need to learn to do it now so when the day comes that your mice have a medical emergency and need medication, you can do it. Learn now. I can explain how I medicate my mice f you want.

by Plazmotech Mon 23 Jan 2017, 11:54 am

Yeah, id like some tips. I've tried everything. Every time I grab them by the scruff they can still move around and they wiggle and bite and squeak and I panic because I think I'm hurting them. And it makes us both feel bad. I tried the thing where I grab them by the tail and give them something to hold onto and then use the other hand to grab the scruff, but again I can't hold enough to immobilize them, especially not their heads. If I try to cup them with my hand they still wiggle free. I put .03 or something on a piece of popcorn yesterday and she ate all of it except that hard shell piece, but I have a suspicion that's where most of the baytril was. I've been thinking about this so hard I even had a dream last night that they were eating baby food with medication in it.

by CallaLily Mon 23 Jan 2017, 12:32 pm

Yes, antibiotics can cause diarrhea. I would just offer a little more oats and make sure she's staying hydrated.

Have you seen the videos in this thread that shows two methods for medicating mice? https://petmousefanciers.forumotion.com/t25-health-packet#34

by CinnamonPearl Mon 23 Jan 2017, 12:36 pm

Definitely try the glove method from the link Calla gave you. If it doesn't work, I'll try to get a video of how I medicate mice, though I'd prefer not to since I haven't had any of my girls for long. But if you really need it, I'd be willing to film a demonstration.

by Plazmotech Mon 23 Jan 2017, 1:30 pm

Yeah I looked at both of those and tried them and I can't seem to pull them off without making my mice squeak in fear or pain, or getting them to stop struggling. And partially the reason is because I also haven't had them for that long so they're not fully comfortable with me cupping my hands around them or moving them into place.

by CinnamonPearl Mon 23 Jan 2017, 2:08 pm

A squeak of fear is okay so long as it's not pain. It's more important that they get their medication. It's not fun for them but they'll live; that's the important thing. As long as you're holding them firmly but not pressing into them, it's okay to restrain them. Are you sure you're not just worrying because you're unused to force medicating small animals?

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